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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

I was very casually dressed today. My phone said it was going to rain so I didn't want to ruin a pair of perfectly good high heels...it never rained. But no complaints, I was comfy. :)Between my sister and I, we're pretty obsessed with rabbits and bunny prints on things so I am so in love with this $30 tee that I picked up last year at ModCloth; I especially adore the peach color! It has gotten a lot of mileage, and unfortunately even shrank a bit since I first got it (dryer accidents). I love buying a t-shirt that's just so comfy it's worth every penny. And who doesn't love creepers (the shoes)?! I can't wear these to school without getting compliments! These are not only cool, but they give a regular ol' t-shirt and jeans outfit something extra, and they add a little height. Win!

While I was having my moment after school today, I found this huge and pretty autumn leaf sitting on a stair by itself. I picked it up and brought it home with me. We're friends and stuff. :)

I don't think I've told the blog world about how much I adore the landscape and sheer beauty of my campus. I've taken pictures over the last year, capturing its 'new' look with each season come, and shown my facebook friends just why I'm so in love with it, but not here yet. I'll eventually do a post sharing some of my favorite pictures that I've taken of our school (Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, NJ).

But right now I wanted to talk about what you can't see in the pictures (maybe some of you can, in fact, I know some will be able to see what I see).

Every Wednesday I have a writing class in the mansion, and every Wednesday I get to walk down this incredibly peaceful path to get there. I love the way the trees climb high on both sides of the one-way street, and the way the air touches my face and then makes its way through my hair. I love the way this path alters its appearance throughout the year, as the leaves change colors, fly in circles before falling, and then come alive again in spring. The scenery on this entire campus is always presenting itself in a brand new light of attractiveness to me. Each time I find myself captivated and moved to...something going on inside of me, I wish that I had Mikey or a special friend there to share it with. It makes me really, really happy to drive and walk through FDU.

Here's a picture I took today while I was having one of my usual moments.(I've always found light posts simply charming.)

This was my caption for the picture on facebook. It was everything I was feeling right then and there, and I wanted to get it out and share with my friends:

I have never felt more at one with the trees, the sky over my head and the air around me as I do every time I walk down this path. I know it doesn't look like much, but I'm completely taken away with it, each time walking with my head up and sometimes my eyes closed. One of these days I'm going to take a bad fall or bump into someone, but maybe I won't. Maybe nature will look out for me since I've taken such a fascination to her beauty. That undeniable beauty, even with these bare branches. I love it.

When I get to my car after having walked this stretch, I frequently smile and breathe in silence for a minute and think about the scene in the movie "Garden State" where Natalie Portman talks about Zach Braff being "in it". I seem to find myself "in it" quite often.

*"In it" basically means having those strong, deep moments where it's almost like there's something magical and really significant going on in your head, heart, body, etc...aka "real shit" (what I jokingly refer to it as). By the way, if you haven't seen the movie, you need to.

I wish that everyone in the world had a little place (or places) that made them feel the way this quiet stretch makes me feel. It truly is magical, and I am thankful for it. It humbles me with every step and let's me know just how small I am in this world....like nothing is that big of a deal while I'm taking these strides. I could go on with this, oh, could I. But I'm going to stop this post here.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

As soon as I got myself dressed this morning I looked in the mirror and immediately felt like I was channeling my inner box of crayons...if that makes sense. Oh, and I LOVE coloring and I require the absolute biggest box of crayons Crayola offers. I am a psycho like that. Anyway, this dress is old. It has a bunch of different colors in it, and at the bottom it has that appearance like someone just shook a paint brush over it. It's pretty neat and I sort of just put this outfit together as randomly (and quickly) as possible, but I'm quite pleased with the colorful results...and with the fact that I finally wore my green knee-high socks that have been in the drawer -unworn- for over a year! *Jen, these are the boots I bought when you visited last year. I've never worn them and it boggled my mind today as to why not, because they totally rule. :)

Another picture of me eating a sandwich makes me think of:"What is it with you and fixing f**king sandwiches?" Lol. Bad Santa.

Monday, November 28, 2011

I got to school a little over 2 hours early today to walk around our lovely campus with Mikey and get some lunch at Panera Bread. I'm actually blogging from my computer lab--first blog ever not posted from my comfy couch!

I wanted to take advantage of the daylight and get some pictures of my outfit taken (for once).Yay for not having to take the pictures inside our apartment today!

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Do y'all remember that song ^up there^ from the late 90's? If not, here's the video to refresh your memory. It popped into my head tonight while I was showering, and I couldn't help but think of the title alone and all that that implies. If you want your relationships and friendships to be more successful, then put more effort, care, and time into them. If they really mean something to you, then act like it. And be happy for those people that you supposedly love when they're happy. Especially if you know they'd do the same for you in a heartbeat.

If you want to be noticed as a stellar worker, worthy of promotion at work, then stop complaining about doing those tedious little tasks and stop doing the bare minimum (uh-oh Office Space reference). Do your job with pride, whatever it is. One of the best qualities in a person is their work ethic, in my opinion. I cannot stand lazy people in the work place, and don't understand how some people get by with their sub par executions and attitudes. If you want to change your lifestyle, then stop talking about it and do it! Be-it working out, eating better or what have you. There are so many online forums that offer tips, or groups of people that are going through the same thing you are all the time, so if you don't have friends to offer encouragement (which is just not awesome) or if you don't feel comfortable talking to your friends, then there's a good chance you can exchange stories and advice there. If you want better grades in school, then study your butt off and do all your homework! This one SO applies to me. I say my prayers every night before I go to bed, and I pray for an array of things for each and every person I care about: all my family and friends. The other night I found myself praying that I'd get an A in one of my classes, but then I stopped mid-prayer and said aloud, "Well, God, I guess if I want that A I better start earning it, huh?" Last semester I studied my butt off! I mean, I was in my books everysingleday (I put those 3 words together for emphasizing purposes, lol). This semester I've slacked off in certain classes over others. This class that I was praying about is one that I've not given my full efforts in. I had to look at myself and be honest. Why should I deserve an A if I haven't been giving A-effort? You know what I'm saying? And then that got me thinking about how many people can actually do what I did and self examine...I know so many people that for the life of them cannot take responsibility. I don't understand that. It boggles my mind. Pride can be a butt-biter. Anyway, you get the idea of what I was on to tonight. And I completely understand that in certain circumstances giving all you can still doesn't turn out for the best. I know that some people work their butts off and still, their jerk of a boss will give them no such promotion, bonus, or even praise!...it's sad. And I know that some people will put blood, sweat and tears into their relationships and marriages, and their significant other will still be a tool or toolette...just wrong. But all these crappy things will happen, I was just talking about YOU simply giving your all, no matter what, instead of griping about things that you've put little time into making better aka results stemming from the work you've put into something. Here's a picture that I found a while back on google, but apparently it belongs to this blog, and who knows where they got it from. I love love love this, and I agree 100%. Off the top of my head, the only people that can't really follow this verbatim are military service members and their families, but everyone else, this applies to you. And you can't really use your job as an excuse, because you can maybe transfer or find a new job if you absolutely-totally-completely hate where you are. If not, suck it up, buttercup! :) Jen, I love that you are such a tumbleweed and you just keep on blowing to new places when you feel like picking up and going. I'd like to consider myself along the same lines. I don't by any means hate New Jersey, I'm actually quite fond of it now (minus SOME of the drivers, lol), but I'm so eager to see where we end up next, and having moved around quite a bit over the last 9 years, I just can't imagine myself in one place too long anymore. :)

**Update** Using the plate number I was thankfully able to call out as the a-hole drove by, the police found the identity of the man that hit me and fled on Tuesday! I've got his name and address, and my insurance company is currently trying to go through his last listed insurance company so he can pay for my damages. I'm hoping that all goes smoothly and we don't have to end up suing him. I just want my Aldie (the Mini's name) handsome and looking like new again. :)

My mother-in-law, Doranne, Sami & I at dinner (I have a pic of the guys, but it's too dark)

Drive-home-happy-face

It was a great trip! Short, but a good time nonetheless. And I actually got over 8 hours of sleep before we did the drive back home, so I surprised Mikey by volunteering to start off the drive. And yes, we had Chik-Fil-A on the way home, too. ;)

Happy Saturday night, friends! I'm gonna watch some British comedies and maybe grab a waffle at the diner with Mikey here in a sec...guess I'm not that tired anymore...not when I think of waffles.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Today we drove 12 hours (11.5 to be exact) to visit my mother-in-law in Wilmington, NC. We were stuck in brutal traffic in Virginia for about two hours...I passed the heck out. But prior to that, in the first three hours of the trip I found myself excited to be on the road (you know, before it's to the point where your butt feels like it's been sitting on cement blocks all day and you're 95% miserable because of it). When we first started the drive, I assumed the position of DJ and stared out the window (my favorite!) getting lost in my memories that are associated/tied to the songs I was hearing. I think that's one of the most rewarding and amazing things about having memories: they give you another place to go back to, whenever you want. That's what I do during road trips...during most things, really.

If you care to take a listen and maybe discover a new band and album today, here are the artists and albums I played during the first 3+ hours:

The Honorary Title - some EPs, Anything Else But The Truth, Scream and Light Up the Sky

Okay, seriously, if you've never heard of The Honorary Title, buy their stuff. They have a number of EPs and two albums. Unfortunately they're no longer together; however, they're in my top whatever-number of favorite listens ever! Youtube has a decent amount of videos for their songs, but here are two of my favorites: "Everything I Once Had"and "Far More", which is a song I am beyond addicted to (this video is lame though - the lyrics aren't entirely correct - so just listen).

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

I was at a stop sign, on my own street, headed to school when some idiot rear-ended me. I got out of my car and told him I was going to call the cops. Long story short, he pretended to be cool with the situation, pulled up next to me and told me that we should go to the parking lot right around the corner and discuss things, when he gunned it and totally disappeared. Unfortunately for him, he didn't anticipate me catching a glimpse of his plates and immediately giving the details to the police officer I was on the phone with. However, unfortunately for me, the amazing Paterson Police didn't show up until 4 hours later, so who knows when they'll catch/find this asswipe. *I really don't care if I curse right now -- I have a right to be upset.*

I was upset, but not livid. And the only reason I wasn't screaming and getting fired-up-crazy was because this is the 2nd time in 9 months that I've been rear-ended by the cognizant drivers here. You'd think that would be reason enough to have lost my self-control, but it actually made me feel quite the opposite: a little numbness mixed with "you've got to be fugging kidding me...again?"And okay, I don't want to start classifying all Jersey drivers as morons, but both times I was at a stop. And the individuals behind me were at a stop! How do you still hit someone?!? People around this area just seem to be in a constant rush, a never-ending mad dash for some invisible finish line. I just wanna smack those people around and tell them to freakin' breathe and take it easy. SHEESH!

I ended up missing my class and just waited for the police on my couch. When they didn't arrive after the first hour, I called and asked if they had the right address. Then another three hours went by. And while my patience would have normally worn out within the first hour, I had already maintained some level of zen by looking at shoes online. Mikey has been asking for my Christmas wishlist (which one?! lol), so I figured I'd update them. I started working on each wishlist for different brands of shoes I want...I was CCC (cool, calm and collected) after I started doing that. :)

In case you come across a day that could render you pissed off to the millionth degree, maybe some deep breathing...and scouring of internet retail can keep you from punching walls too!

pinterest.com

I hope y'all had a great Tuesday! And Happy 1 month Blogaversary to my new "baby".

It was raining today, so when I came back inside and opened my umbrella indoors, Mikey warned me about how it's bad luck to do that. I smiled and shrugged, "Well the day can't get much worse than this. Take the picture." :)

Because sometimes it's the little things that make life so much fun.Like staying up late...in your onesie and taking utterly terrible pictures with your husband!But first, this is pretty much how I won him over, and I've only managed to get more awkward over the last 3.5 years.

Monday, November 21, 2011

I am head over heels for this fabulous frock by UK brand Dahlia! Today was the third time I've worn it, and each time I've tried to style it differently. Today I wore it with black tights, my cream oxford pumps, a white & black headband, a dark turquoise purse, and cameo style earrings. I was supposed to give a presentation in one of my classes today so I wanted to wear something that makes me feel absolutely confident, but the professor never showed up! Instead I got to go grab lunch with Mikey and exchange some smooches. Win!This dress is considered mauve online, but it's more like magenta in my opinion.

Here's something that made me LOL several times today, because I'm that weirdo that laughs out loud in public when funny stuff pops in my head. (I heart this website)

HAHA! Please tell me you remember this awesome line from 'that' movie in 2005.

Thank you to all my amazing friends that have been reading my little blog and leaving sweet comments here and on Facebook! It means a lot. And you too Mommy! I love hearing your feedback on the phone. Thanks for being my cheerleaders. I love you all.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Unfortunately so many d-bags make a girl think there's no good guys left in the world, and of course the same is true of whacky women making a bad name for those of us whose screws aren't loose. The fact is that there are still good men and women out there. It just takes some of us a little while to find them, that's all.

There's this song, "Stand By Your Man" by Tammy Wynette that I absolutely loved as a little girl. I remember singing the chorus (that's all I knew) over and over. The other night I was in an old country kinda mood and found myself glued to Youtube for about three hours. I found this song again and listened to it on repeat for a good 30 minutes before I thought to myself:

1) Wow, I never really listened to the opening lyrics before. The line about a woman having bad times, while the man has good times, and then basically loving him through his mistakes. Tammy could have been referencing cheating or abuse, I'm not exactly sure, but this song did cause quite an uproar with feminists in the 70's because of the role that this song implies of a woman. I'm not a feminist by any means, but I can get why they were upset over the idea of women keeping their mouths shut and loving like a loyal puppy. While I do believe in looking past the fact that my husband sometimes leaves the toilet seat up, or that he puts empty boxes of cereal back in the pantry and it completely pisses me off, or when we go grocery shopping and he finishes the entire bag of Doritos when I haven't even put my hand in the bag, there is no way I'd put up with him talking down to me or cheating on me or any of that shit. <--Is that my first curse word on the blog? I've tried to make it a point to keep my potty mouth clean here. Oops. :) And Mikey will be the first to tell anyone that I've never been one to just "shut up and color." He calls me a firecracker for a reason. But he's a good man, so I'll forgive the empty pizza boxes that are still in the fridge long after they've been consumed. ;) I just wanted to make it absolutely clear that I'm not the type of woman that loves through undeniable nonsense and a total lack of disrespect. Not that I've never been in a similar situation. I think we all go through at least one unhealthy relationship in our time. It happens, but no one should 'stand by and take it'.

There was also some discontent felt by men over the song, because of the line "after all he's just a man", the "just" being the part that upset them. Again, I don't know exactly what Tammy wanted to imply when she sang this, but I'm guessing she just meant not to hold men in general to such a higher tier, because they're not perfect; they will have flaws. And we're not perfect as women. We're all just human. :)

2) I thought it would be a really cool idea to make a video montage showing pictures of some of my friends (Mikey & I included) that are in loving and healthy relationships with a man that they are proud to stand by! So that's what I did, and it made me love the song even more by associating it with such beautiful images that bring it to life in a brand new way.

I hope you enjoy my 2nd little iMovie project! My first one was a friendship video (of me and my friend Natalie) to another old country favorite, "Deeper Than the Holler" by Randy Travis. If you want to see that vid, you can see it here.

I'm not a professional video maker at all, so please don't judge my skills too harshly. This was purely for fun, and I personally like the finished product. Here it is:

It's fixed! You can watch the video now! As usual, click on where it says "youtube" at the bottom right and watch it (bigger) there. It's too small on my blog. Also, with this new version of the song there is a 5 second delay, so that stinks, but at least it finally works! :)

This is the disclaimer I put on the video before any morons even tried to run their mouths about us being women without a backbone:

**Note: None of the women in this video are "shut up and put up with a man's mistakes" type of women. These are all strong, independent women who were blessed with a man that treats them with respect, is loyal, and loves and adores them. I just wanted to get that out there since the lyrics of this [beautiful] song caused so much controversy in the past. I have loved this song since I was a little girl and thought about making a video montage with pretty pictures showing some of my favorite, strong couples (to include me & my husband).We all agree that standing by your man comes easy when he's a good man who also realizes that he is just as lucky for you coming into his life, as you are that he came into yours.This one's for all the great men out there, and the spirited woman next to you that helps you hold it all together.**Photog credits as follows**Exposure Photography by Jason Talley (Las Vegas)Modernlite PhotographyLisa Jackson Photography (Las Vegas)Abi Martin Photography

Thank you to Lindsay, Alli, Jamie, Michelle, MeeMee, Emily, Laura, Jenny and Khalilah for letting me steal pictures of you and your hubbies off your facebook pages. :) I had so much fun picking favorites, and I especially hope you ladies are satisfied with how my little project turned out. I adore you all bunches!!

Hi dolls,It's Saturday afternoon now, but I've been up since before 8 am and anyone that knows me knows that is so not my style (if I don't need to be up for school/work). I'm finally feeling delirious enough to go back to sleep - I also only got about 4ish hours of sleep last night. I'm just here to share a post that was such a good read, I was compelled to encourage y'all to read it too. The first inspirational thing I came across today: "Follow the signs", from my darling friend and hillbilly philosopher, Jamie. :) I hope you take one whole minute out of your time to read it. It's wonderful and I know you'll enjoy it.

Friday, November 18, 2011

"Fun fun, thinkin' bout fun..." It's so embarrassing that every Friday this song continues to haunt me. Do I hate it? I thought I did, but now I find myself singing the lyrics in my head and then quickly stopping myself as if someone might catch on to me. Damn you, Rebecca Black! In other news, I'm here to do a quick outfit post before I finish working on a little project for one of my next blog posts. I'm really stoked about it! OH, let me apologize right now for posting outfits via cell phone pictures. It annoys me and I wish I had a 'real' camera like other bloggers that do outfit posts. I have my little Sony camera, but I'm honestly too lazy to use it. I just have Mikey take my pics as soon as I get home from school, and if the sun has already gone down by the time I get home (most often the case), welp, I'm stuck taking them in our kitchen where even the best lighting in the house is still the worst. Meh. Sorry. Here's what I wore to school on this 'brrrr!" Friday: (First, with my cardigan buttoned + a rag-doll scarf - this is the way I "rolled" today.)

Yesterday's blog post reminded me that I had this lovely top so I had to don it a 2nd time!

I loooove these shoes! I had been seeing them all over the internet and then finally on A Beautiful Mess the other day...I just had to have them! I couldn't decide on mustard yellow (my weakness) or whiskey, so I let Mikey make the call and he chose the whiskey -- of course he would. ;) What I love most about these beauties is that they're a combination of some of my favorite things: they're a loafer/oxford/bootie/high heel! (I'm SO tempted to get the mustard ones now! For variety of course.) They add 4 inches of height to this 5'4 girl! *No platform, so if you're not good with walking in heels these won't work for you. I strut my stuff in these like a champ today, but if they were another quarter inch they'd be no bueno [w/o the platform]. I read reviews about them beforehand and one girl said she couldn't walk 50 feet in 'em; another girl said it was like walking on tippy toes all day. So just keep that in mind if you're interested. They're called Clue by Seychelles (but you can get them cheaper at a few other sites). They're my 3rd pair of Seychelles and I must say, they are a brand worth telling friends about.

4) Bows! Bows in my hair, on my clothes, bow ties...I have like 6 pairs of shoes with bows on them. (Look at the size of this bow, front and center of my dress!)

Yellow tweed dress: Anthropologie 2010

5) Any movies or shows set to appear in the 1950's or 60's era. Sure the story lines are usually great, but I'm strictly glued to the screen for those lovely dresses and the awesome music. Mad Men is a weakness of mine.

7) Red hair! I read an article several months ago (when I had my bright red hair) where all these actresses were interviewed about what their natural hair color was and why they dye it so frequently. Many of them were natural blonds that have been dying their hair brown or black for many years. Their reasons for the hue swap were different, but a lot of them said they just felt that people took them more seriously as a brunette, or they simply felt mother nature issued them the wrong hair color at birth, so they just pay a little money every 6 weeks to dye it accordingly. I started dying my hair red in January and I gradually went redder and redder before going completely fire engine red. The way I felt with that color and the way people responded to it made me feel like I should have been born a red head. I just felt so much more like my sassy, feisty self with it. I've been a brunette again for about four months, and I'm so bored now that I've felt such a revival after having gone red!

See, I went from red to really red! Both outfits from ModCloth

8) Vintage! What I love most about vintage stores as opposed to thrift stores (I do enjoy thrifting when I have the time; I've been doing it since I was bout 6 years old) is that someone has already gone out and picked the gems for you! You just get to sift through treasure, rather than in some cases, junk. Most vintage shops are owned by someone who actually works there on a daily basis and goes out in search of the best of the best vintage products. People like Johnny at Speakeasy Vintage in Montclair, take the extra steps to have the pieces they find washed, dry-cleaned, and fixed up by a seamstress if there are small imperfections. I was really impressed by his commitment to selling damn near perfect vintage!

50's vintage tennis dress: The Attic, Las Vegas

9) Lace! There is just a timeless elegance in anything lace. So pretty.

Lace 2fer dress: Ruche, also sold on MC

10) Granny shoes! Also called oxfords, wingtips, saddle shoes...or even bowling shoes, if you're my brother. I'm very much obsessed with these and no, owning many pairs never gets old.

11) Girls with tattoos! Love them. I'm pretty much drawn to conversation anytime I meet a pretty girl with colorful tattoos. I feel like we're all part of our own [cool] little club. *hold still for my Tatted Beauties post I'm going to do in the near future*

12) Retro/vintage-inspired swimsuits!

Swimsuits: Esther Williams via ModCloth

13) SHOEZ in general! This should probably just fall into the category of shopping. :)

Irregular Choice shoes, NYC
This one day Mikey spoiled me!

Clearly there is more to me than just shopping and worrying about pretty clothes. I just wanted to do a little post like this for the new friends I'm making in the blog world who are also fashion addicts and have similar tastes. I know I personally love seeing blogger's outfit posts and their "things I love" posts, because it's likely I'm digging the same stuff, and it's also interesting to see how much you have in common with people who are otherwise just strangers to you.

Hi, I'm Roni & I'm married to the greatest guy in the universe, Mikey. I was in the Air Force for 8 yrs (I lived in Oklahoma City & Las Vegas). I have lots of tattoos *I hate when people ask if I'll regret them down the line* Tattoos, to me, are the artistic documentation of who I am, where I've been at a point in my life, and what I like. Even if I no longer am super fond of certain things that I have tattooed, I still look at them as reminders for who I was when I did. Plus my tattoos are very colorful and bubbly, like me! I can't stand people who auto-dislike people with tattoos. It's a form of prejudice and it's NOT okay. Most of us are decent human beings with good ethics and morals; we're not all former gang bangers. Stop being closed-minded. I'm originally from San Antonio - I'm a proud Texan! We currently reside in New Jersey for college. We have two dogs (Jaxon and Bowie) and a cat, Danzig. Oh, and all my best friends are thousands of miles away, scattered throughout the country.Click here for more...